Child Support Worksheet Louisiana Divorce — How the Calculation Works

Louisiana generally calculates child support under a statutory formula rather than leaving the starting amount to a judge's discretion. The calculation follows the Income Shares Model under Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:315 through 9:315.47, and the court uses a standardized worksheet to produce the final number. Understanding how the worksheet works helps you estimate your obligation before you ever set foot in court.

The Income Shares Model

Louisiana's approach starts from the idea that children should receive the same proportion of parental income they would have received if the family were intact. Both parents' gross incomes are combined, a schedule maps that combined income to a "basic child support obligation" based on the number of children, and each parent's share is proportional to their percentage of the combined total.

The core formula:

1. Calculate each parent's monthly gross income
2. Apply the permitted adjustments and combine both parents' adjusted gross incomes
3. Look up the basic child support obligation on the statutory schedule (La. R.S. 9:315.19)
4. Add allowable expenses, such as health insurance premiums for the children, extraordinary medical expenses, and work-related childcare costs
5. Divide the total obligation proportionally based on each parent's share of combined income
6. The non-domiciliary parent typically pays their share to the domiciliary parent

What Counts as Gross Income

The worksheet starts with gross income, and Louisiana defines it broadly. Gross income includes:

• Salary, wages, commissions, and bonuses
• Self-employment income (gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses)
• Rental income
• Dividends, interest, and investment income
• Social Security benefits (including disability)
• Workers' compensation benefits
• Unemployment insurance
• Retirement and pension income
• Spousal support received from this or a prior marriage
• Trust income

Gross income does not include:

• Child support received for children from another relationship
• Benefits from means-tested public assistance programs (SNAP, TANF, Medicaid)
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Foster care payments

If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can impute income based on their earning capacity — what they could reasonably earn given their education, work history, and local job market. A parent who quits a job to reduce child support obligations may have support calculated based on earning capacity rather than the reduced income they report.

Walking Through the Worksheet

The standardized worksheet has several parts:

Line 1 — Gross monthly income for each parent. Enter documented monthly earnings from all sources listed above.

Line 2 — Adjustments. Subtract preexisting child support or spousal support obligations owed under an order to someone who is not a party to the proceeding. The result is each parent's adjusted gross income.

Line 3 — Combined adjusted gross income. Add both parents' adjusted amounts.

Line 4 — Each parent's percentage share. Divide each parent's adjusted income by the combined total.

Line 5 — Basic child support obligation. Look up the combined adjusted gross income on the statutory schedule (La. R.S. 9:315.19) for the number of children. The schedule provides a specific dollar amount.

Lines 6-8 — Add-ons. Add the children's health insurance premium, extraordinary medical expenses, and work-related childcare costs. These are added to the basic obligation before splitting by percentage.

Line 9 — Total child support obligation. The basic obligation plus add-ons.

Line 10 — Each parent's share. Multiply the total obligation by each parent's percentage share from Line 4. The non-domiciliary parent's share is the monthly child support payment.

Deviations From the Guidelines

The statutory amount is a presumption, not an absolute. Either parent can request a deviation if they can prove the guideline amount would be "not in the best interest of the child" or would be inequitable. Common reasons judges deviate:

• Extraordinary expenses for a child with special needs
• Shared custody arrangements where the child spends significant time with both parents (the formula adjusts for shared custody)
• Seasonal or irregular income that makes the worksheet amount misleading
• A parent's extraordinary debt obligations that predate the marriage

The court can deviate in either direction — upward if the child has unusual expenses, or downward if the paying parent's circumstances make the guideline amount genuinely unworkable.

Shared Custody Adjustments

When a joint custody order or plan provides for shared custody, or the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that shared custody exists, Louisiana's formula first multiplies the basic obligation by 1.5 and then accounts for each parent's actual percentage of custodial time. Under La. R.S. 9:315.9, shared custody means each parent has physical custody for approximately equal time; there is no single 73-day threshold in the current definition.

How Child Support Interacts With the Divorce Filing

Child support can be established at any point during the divorce process — it doesn't wait for the final judgment. Under an Article 102 filing, the court can address temporary child support early in the process after service. Many parents request temporary support orders early in the process.

The final child support amount is typically set in the consent judgment or at a hearing. If you've agreed on custody and support through mediation or negotiation, you submit the child support worksheet along with your consent judgment showing the calculated amount.

The Louisiana Divorce Filing Process Guide includes guidance on how child support fits into the filing timeline and what documentation you need to bring to the worksheet calculation.

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